Supernatural: "Good God, Y'all!"Review

Summoned to the aid of a small town in Colorado that is under attack by demons, Dean and Sam meet up with some old allies. Things are not as they appear however, as the brothers soon find out.

A welcome return is made by three hunters we have met previously: Rufus, Ellen and Jo. I loved Ellen's reaction to seeing Dean and Sam: dousing them with holy water to see if they are possessed, getting them swiftly out of harm's way and giving Dean a fierce hug when she is sure they are safe, followed by a slap for not telling her sooner that he was alive. We have missed you Ellen! In fact, we have missed having smart, tough women who are not evil in general.

Jo and Dean share just a brief moment on screen, barely time to say hello to each other, but I still feel chemistry between the two characters. And I have been waiting to see more of Rufus on the show since we first met him in season three. He is like Bobby in that he has a lot of experience he can share with Dean and Sam, but in a different way since he is not a father figure to them. I hope it is not the last time we see these people; one episode is not nearly enough time for any of them.

Having Rufus, Ellen and Jo in the town also serves to raise the situation to a much more personal level when the hunters find themselves on opposite sides of the battle lines. When separated, Ellen and Jo reflect the same concern for each other that Dean and Sam have when the other is in danger. And it is Ellen and Jo's dialog when they are fighting each other that tips the audience off to the fact that it is not demon possession that is going on in this town after all.

Played by Titus Welliver (Deadwood), War has arrived (appropriately enough for Supernatural in a bright red Mustang), and is having a great time playing both sides against each other. The revelation that everyone is hallucinating the demons, and that War is actually messing with their head, just to watch formerly innocent townspeople kill each other off, is a good, surprising twist. Welliver does a great job in the role, first appearing as the innocuous Roger, and then flipping the switch into the gloating schemer that War really is.

Jensen Ackles as Dean and Jared Padalecki as Sam

Even though the storyline of the demon-possessed town is connected to the larger storyline of the apocalypse, it still functions as a self-contained episode, and writer Sera Gamble does a good job tying all the elements together. However, just like last week, there is a part of the story that falls a little flat. This time it is when we learn that Dean's amulet, the one he has been wearing the entire series and that Sam gave to him when they were children, is actually a talisman that can help Castiel find God. For the second time in as many weeks, the show sets something up that is too convenient to be fully believable, the first being Bobby's possession in the season premiere. It is true that the apocalypse storyline is immense, but they need to be more careful to make the details make sense, and not feel as if they were thrown in to make the plot work.

Aside from the amulet suddenly being such an important object, the opening scene with Bobby, Castiel and the Winchesters in the hospital is a powerful one. We find out that Bobby has not recovered the ability to walk, and that Castiel can no longer help him. Seeing how Bobby responds to this situation in the episodes to come should be interesting. The scene also reminds us how great Misha Collins is with the character of Castiel, specifically his serious responses to Dean's sarcasm (no, God is "not on any flatbread") and his anger when he feels that Dean is disrespecting him.

The final scene also picks up another thread from last week, and that is the broken relationship between Dean and Sam. The tension between the two is real and serious, and they both know something needs to be done. Sam has grown enough to admit that he is not fit to be hunting at the moment, and Dean sadly agrees with him. (The fact that he offers to let Sam take the Impala shows that he still instinctively wants to look out for his baby brother too.) While they have gone their separate ways in the past, this is the first time it is done thoughtfully and not as a result of a fight; it is a sign of genuine, painful character development. I look forward to seeing how the show rebuilds this relationship since it is the heart of the series.